Ukraine Military Service Card

[Ashley_and_Zhenya 1]

My male fiance is wondering about the need for a military service card when going to get his medical interview in Kiev. It is listed as a requirement to bring with you on this form from the Kiev Embassy: http://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/Medic_imm_eng.pdf

He never served in the military and has no type of card (or conscription card as he is calling it) to prove he has or has not served.

Does he need some sort of card?

Thanks!!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

My male fiance is wondering about the need for a military service card when going to get his medical interview in Kiev. It is listed as a requirement to bring with you on this form from the Kiev Embassy: http://photos.state.gov/libraries/ukraine/895/pdf/Medic_imm_eng.pdf

He never served in the military and has no type of card (or conscription card as he is calling it) to prove he has or has not served.

Does he need some sort of card?

Thanks!!

YES absolutely if he is between ages of 18 and 25 he needs either his military record showing he served his two years mandatory service OR a deferrment. And he will CONTINUE to need to do this every year until he is age 25. Becoming a Us permannet resident does not relieve him of his responsibilites as a Ukrainian citizen and the US government will not be an accessory to evasion of conscription. Our sons have to annually apply for deferments as students and even Sergey, who is registered for the draft here and therefore eligible for deferrment has to show every year he is STILL a US resident and registered for the draft and a student.

The only way to escape it is to become a US citizen AND renounce Ukrainian citizenship. Pasha (age 17, soon to be 18) is a US citizen and we STILL filed for his first deferment this summer. It is NOT true that you lose Ukrainian citizenship immediately upon becoming a US citizen. Ukrainian law is very vague on the matter UNLESS there has been an order by the President of Ukraine. Yushenko issued such an order...Yanukovich has not. Unless Pasha renounces his Ukrainian citizenship (he does not want to) OR the sitting President of Ukraine issues an order enforcing the restriction of dual citizenship, Pasha needs to file for a student deferment every year.

Your fiancee needs to register for conscription (he should have at age 16, Pasha registered last year) and receive a deferrment. Our son Sergey had to present his registration, his deferrment and his student identification to get his K-2 visa. Your fiancee can get a deferrment for being a student in the USA, Pasha does. And Sergey was a student in Russia and is now a student in the USA, plus is not registered for US selective service. Both have been granted deferments

[mobob 0]

Hey Gary, is there a website for them to get the necessary deferment forms? If not, then how/where once they're in the USA? Tnx.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hey Gary, is there a website for them to get the necessary deferment forms? If not, then how/where once they're in the USA? Tnx.

You can check the Ukrainian consulates in the USA. We had no luck. We did not pursue it too much since we go there twice per year anyway and usually take care of it during the summer trip. We do it every year by returning to Ukraine, making an appoitment with the draft board in advance and going in person. On occasion they have asked for additional documents, as they did this year for Pasha and other years for Sergey, and they allowed us to send the additional documents to my MIL who delivered them to the draft board/committee.

This is one of our annual "duties" we take care of while visiting. Our visits have turned out to be (and I am not complaining, just saying the facts) annual "Ukrainian business" trips, renewing and obtaining passports, getting my MIL to her annual doctors check ups, getting our annual doctor and dentist checkups, taking care of business for our property there, etc.

Edited October 28, 2012 by Gary and Alla

[mobob 0]

Tnx Gary. I looked. Nothing even remotely helpful. I presume the draft board offices are open year round, hence your summer trips. He will probably get his first invitation next year, right before school. Guess I'll start planning the trip for next year and following years. It is a good excuse for annual treks.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Tnx Gary. I looked. Nothing even remotely helpful. I presume the draft board offices are open year round, hence your summer trips. He will probably get his first invitation next year, right before school. Guess I'll start planning the trip for next year and following years. It is a good excuse for annual treks.

Pasha got his "invitation" when he was age 16. I guess it is possible to JOIN at that age but it also seems they are trying to get a handle on where everyone is beofre they are actually eligible. We applied for and received Pasha's first deferrment this summer because he would be 18 before the school year was over. He has a deferrment until July 2013 and he will get anotehr one then because he will be registered for the US draft and still be a student.

Sergey is still a student also and is registered for the US draft.

[mobob 0]

Now THAT was very helpful, thank you again. I presume they registered for Selective Service because they're now citizens (by derivative)? Alex will turn 18 right before school next year. So I'm thinking that means an early summer trip back to Ukraine. Hmmm, looks like I'm picking the hottest time of the year to visit. Won't be much different than where I'm at now during the heat of summer. Yea.

Sorry to the OP for the hijack.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Now THAT was very helpful, thank you again. I presume they registered for Selective Service because they're now citizens (by derivative)? Alex will turn 18 right before school next year. So I'm thinking that means an early summer trip back to Ukraine. Hmmm, looks like I'm picking the hottest time of the year to visit. Won't be much different than where I'm at now during the heat of summer. Yea.

Sorry to the OP for the hijack.

Seems like you are on the same topic. The OP should not mind.

LPRs are required to register for SSS also. Pasha is a citizen (by derivitive) and will be 18 in March. Sergey is an unconditional LPR because he was over 18 when Alla became a citizen so he needs to petition for himself after 5 years as a resident, 2014. Sergey is already registered for the draft. You need to do that when he turns 18.

Ukraine was horribly hot this year. The whole time I was there, then Alla stayed an additional three weeks and it was scorching hot, then the day after she left it dropped to about 80 degrees and stayed that way for the two extra weeks Pasha stayed. Our flat is the top floor (5th) of one of those old 1950's concrete "Stalin Bunkers", a 4-20 building (4 "porches" with 20 apartments for each "porch") I think there are 50,000 of those buildings in Donetsk. Anyway, the thing is an oven in the summer! Alla was walking around naked most of the time, which is normally a good thing, but less so when she is whining about being hot and wishing she could "go home" and swim in the lake :crying:

But yes, we took care of Pasha's registration. They requested additional information from his school in Vermont, so we got that and sent it to my MIL who then took it to the draft committee, he got his deferrment until July 2013, which is when he graduates. SO that means we go back next summer with proof he is a US resident and has registered for the draft and/or his college enrollment information which we should have by then. It is a hassle but since we plan to go every year anyway, it is not such a big deal. We have found it difficult to do any kind of Ukrainian business through their consulate here (New York for us)

Edited October 30, 2012 by Gary and Alla

[Ashley_and_Zhenya 1]

I failed to "watch" this topic so I just read your comments. Regarding my fiance, he is 31... so I assume he is beyond the point of registering for the selective service. I do believe he was originally registered in Ukraine, but he doesn't have a card. At any rate, he already call the Clinic where they do the medical exam and they told him he should have been given a card saying he wasn't in the military when he applied for his passport. Sure enough, he did remember getting that card and he had left it filed away somewhere. SO, he should be good to go now.

Thanks!

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I failed to "watch" this topic so I just read your comments. Regarding my fiance, he is 31... so I assume he is beyond the point of registering for the selective service. I do believe he was originally registered in Ukraine, but he doesn't have a card. At any rate, he already call the Clinic where they do the medical exam and they told him he should have been given a card saying he wasn't in the military when he applied for his passport. Sure enough, he did remember getting that card and he had left it filed away somewhere. SO, he should be good to go now.

Thanks!

If he is over age 25 it is not an issue. The US consulate does not try to enforce Ukrainian law in this matter except they do not want to be accused of aiding and abetting draft dodgers. As long as he is out of the age bracket and has no military service he does not need to show anything to the US consulate

[chsovetsky 0]

If he is over age 25 it is not an issue. The US consulate does not try to enforce Ukrainian law in this matter except they do not want to be accused of aiding and abetting draft dodgers. As long as he is out of the age bracket and has no military service he does not need to show anything to the US consulate

-is this also true for the medical exam? If he arrives without the military card, he can still do the medical examination without a problem?